


Accidents Happen

by merycula (thanksillpass)



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 07:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2339561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksillpass/pseuds/merycula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryuugazaki Rei was being stalked. That was definitely the case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidents Happen

He recognized the kid from one of his classes, and he was pretty sure he’d seen him a few times in the bleachers during the track and field team’s practice. It was difficult not to notice, mind you. Hazuki Nagisa was small but incredibly obnoxious, like those dogs that yapped the loudest to compensate for how tiny they were.

Rei hadn’t thought much of it at first, when they bumped into each other in the convenience store. Two people living near the same university shopping at the same place was perfectly logical and there was nothing alarming about it. Except, perhaps, the amount of sweets Nagisa had in his shopping cart. Nothing out of ordinary had happened either, Nagisa’s inexplicable excitement about the content of Rei’s shopping list excluded, and he forgot about it by the end of the week.

But they accidentally ran into each other again, at the pharmacy, and Rei couldn’t help being suspicious. Then again, the place wasn’t far off campus and, as unlikely as it was for them to be there at the same time, it wasn’t entirely impossible. However, Rei didn’t believe in coincidences – he believed in patterns. He pointedly ignored Nagisa’s curious questions, found the eye drops, and rushed to the register.

He was about to leave, when Nagisa placed a pack of condoms on the counter. Rei was… shocked, to say the least. Don’t get him wrong – he was well aware that, even if he himself couldn’t be less interested in the carnal pleasures, it wasn’t uncommon for a university student to be sexually active. However, the size of the condoms… He gulped, looking at Nagisa-kun questioningly despite himself, which earned him an amused giggle.

“They’re not for me!” explained Nagisa immediately. “My friend is too shy to buy them, can you believe that? I’m single if you’re wondering, Rei-chan,” he added with a wink.

Rei blushed, startled. “I- I wasn’t,” he stuttered, and left.

It took him longer to forget  _that_  mortifying incident. Actually, he hadn’t forgotten it, but it was simply overwritten by the next time he “ran into” Hazuki Nagisa. Rei’s parents have come to visit on a weekend and took him out to a restaurant, where they celebrated his impeccable performance during the exams. When he excused himself to the bathroom, the last thing he had expected was to physically bump into Nagisa by the door.

“Rei-chan?” exclaimed Nagisa with a bright grin.

Rei’s eyes widened in horror. Once was an accident, twice was coincidence, but three times was a pattern. He stepped away, taking in Nagisa’s innocently delighted expression, and unceremoniously entered the bathroom. Which, rationally thinking, was an idiotic thing to do, considering Rei had nowhere to run now.

“Are you stalking me?” he asked upfront, when Nagisa followed him inside.

The blond gaped. “What? Rei-chan, no! Aw, you wound me! It’s fate,  _fate!_  I’m here with my friends, we’re celebrating~! Oh, and congratulations on passing your exams! You probably did great! Or gr-nine even! I barely passed mine…”

Rei was speechless as he listened to Nagisa-kun babble carefree about his difficulties in studying. He didn’t understand anything – the ease with which Nagisa brushed off Rei’s horrible accusation nor the seemingly genuine pleasure he took in meeting by accident, despite the awkward circumstances every time it happened. Rei simply couldn’t comprehend Nagisa’s irrational infatuation with him, and what  _definitely_  couldn’t wrap his head around was why he just stood there, in a restaurant’s restroom, willingly exposing himself to the presence of an annoying boy from one of his classes.

The most baffling thing, however, was the fondness he began to experience the longer he watched Nagisa’s eyes light up when he suddenly started talking about, inexplicably, penguins. His mood was contagious and it was ridiculously easy to be pulled into his pace. Rei didn’t even notice he’s been ignoring his own bladder for over fifteen minutes, until his father walked in, a confused expression on his face. He explained they were getting worried and invited Nagisa to their table.

Nagisa laughed. “No, no, thank you for the offer, Ryuugazaki-san, but I’m here with my friends! Sorry for stopping you for so long, Rei-chan! Congratulations again, see you around~!”

With that, Nagisa was gone, and Rei felt oddly disappointed.

His rather irrational feeling of dejection didn’t last long, however, because he met Nagisa a couple of weeks later, while shopping for clothes. Rei wouldn’t have even noticed, he was so busy deciding on the combination for the perfect outfit, but Nagisa’s laughter carried into the store, immediately catching Rei’s attention. He was with his friend, their senior on the university, who had been very helpful when Rei began finding his way around. Nagisa nearly doubled over with laughter upon seeing Rei, tears in his eyes when he swore he wasn’t stalking.

“Of course not,” decided Rei with a smirk, fixing his glasses. “Makoto-senpai would never allow for such a despicable activity in his presence.”

Tachibana blushed in slight discomfort, and quickly excused himself to the swimwear section, leaving Nagisa with Rei. They chatted for a while, which meant mostly Nagisa commenting excitedly on Rei’s latest performance during his high jump practice. It was rather embarrassing to have such undivided attention focused solely on him, but it was also very flattering, and Rei didn’t question Nagisa’s fascination with track and field, despite him being on a swim team – athletics were, after all, more beautiful than other sports.

When Nagisa noticed the clothes Rei had prepared for fitting, he inspected them all with a very serious expression and quickly rejected a half of them. Rei spluttered indignantly at the ruthless decision but Nagisa ignored him, putting one of the shirts on Rei’s chest and narrowing his eyes in concentration. He finally grinned, apparently deciding it was a good match, and forced Rei to try it on, despite his dismayed grimace.

“I think you would look very beautiful in it,” he said.

Rei felt his cheeks growing hot. “Excuse me?”

“Oh no, nothing, I just find Rei-chan very beautiful, especially when you jump,” babbled Nagisa, suddenly flustered, his cheeks pink as well. “I don’t mean anything bad by it, I swear!”

He wouldn’t meet Rei’s eyes, pursing his lips in obvious displeasure with himself, and it only deepened Rei’s own embarrassment. In normal circumstances, Rei would laugh boisterously and thank for stating the obvious truth, flattered to have his brilliance acknowledged. But those weren’t normal circumstances, seeing as Nagisa was clearly attracted to him, and it was beneath Rei to feign obliviousness and ignorance. Unable to find a diplomatic way out of an unfamiliar situation, Rei walked into the fitting room to at least avoid further humiliation.

When he walked out, Nagisa was gone.

They kept running into each other from time to time, but neither of them ever brought up the subject. It wasn’t that Rei was averse to the idea of homoeroticism – he simply hadn’t considered it before in reference to himself. Rei never had much interest in people to begin with; generally speaking, as a species, they weren’t beautiful at all. He never actually felt attracted to anyone – male or female, physically or otherwise – so it would be simply ludicrous to _decide_  on his sexuality, or  _assume_  he fitted the norm, considering the substantial lack of any data.

Aesthetically, he found Nagisa pleasing, which couldn’t be said about just anyone, given Rei’s standards. He also enjoyed his company, despite the initial misunderstanding and Nagisa’s difficult personality, so horribly incompatible with his own. He definitely felt  _something_  around Nagisa – an array of emotions, actually, ranging from crippling embarrassment to infinite fondness. Logically, it would be a waste not to at least  _consider_  Nagisa’s advances, were any to be made in the future.

However, Rei had no rational explanation for starting to  _anticipate_ them.

In the end, instead of making their questionable relationship progress, they started seeing less and less of each other. It could have been ascribed to the hectic atmosphere around the final exams, at least for Nagisa, who needed to work much harder than Rei to pass them. Before Rei knew it, he was getting ready to go back home after the end of the year, not having seen Nagisa for over three weeks. He regretted never actually exchanging phone numbers, going along with Nagisa’s idiotically romantic idea to meet only by accident.

Being constantly lost in thoughts of this sort was the main reason why he was about to miss the last train back to the university. The party thrown by his track and field team was bearable, but nothing to be late for a train over, so Rei entirely blamed Hazuki Nagisa and his annoying absence. He was simply livid and nearly homicidal when he reached the platform only to see the train leave. He cursed, stomping his foot, before promptly composing himself.

“Hello, Rei-chan.”

He startled, spinning around so abruptly he nearly got whiplash. Nagisa was sitting on the bench, dangling his feet like he didn’t have a care in the world, looking at Rei with a small smile. Seeing him confused Rei, simultaneously elating him and filling him with irrational dread. For someone who wanted to see Nagisa so much, he certainly hadn’t see that particular chance meeting coming, and he was very much at a loss for words.

Suddenly, Nagisa chuckled and walked over to him. “Long time no see, huh, Rei-chan?”

“Yes,” muttered Rei, frowning. “Clearly, you are at fault here, though, Nagisa-kun. It was you who insisted on leaving everything to fate, as you’ve put it.”

“Well, this isn’t an accident, not exactly,” said Nagisa, oddly serious. “I saw you running and I missed the train on purpose. Are you mad, Rei-chan?”

Rei wasn’t sure if he was exasperated or relieved. It was ridiculous for Nagisa to think he would be upset with him for breaking some imaginary and undesirable rule, but it was also very like him to worry like that and it made Rei sigh around a smile. It was also uplifting to know that Nagisa went out of his way to see him, that not only Rei felt that longing after all. On the other hand, Rei’s painfully pragmatic side was screaming in agony over the fact that they had both missed the last train.

“What now, though?” he asked. “Do you want to share a cab, or-”

“How do you feel about me, Rei-chan?”

Nagisa’s sudden question caught Rei off guard, to say the least. It never ceased to amaze him how  _unprepared_  Nagisa made him feel, for anything. All this time, he’d been expecting to hear a confession, but he never anticipated it to be requested of him, so he gaped incredulously, unable to form simple words, let alone a coherent reply. At first, Nagisa was looking at him expectantly, as if he has been meaning to ask this for a long time and was determined to receive an answer, but he soon dropped his gaze to the ground, worrying his lower lip with his teeth.

“Do you hate me?” he asked in a small voice.

Rei shook his head vehemently, startled. “No, of course not, Nagisa-kun!”

“Then what?”

Rei faltered. “I’m… not sure. This… this isn’t something I’m accustomed to.”

Feeling himself panic, he wanted to explain that he required time to analyze his emotions and calculate the probability of things working out between them, for which he needed to complete the data, including how exactly Nagisa felt too. He wanted Nagisa to understand that all this was complicated and Rei knew next to nothing about him or, apparently, himself.

But Nagisa was looking at him, smiling patiently and encouragingly despite being evidently embarrassed and, suddenly, Rei thought that maybe it was simple. Maybe Hazuki Nagisa was just boy with a good old-fashioned crush on a guy from the track and field team, whom he seemed to constantly run into. Maybe what Rei felt, although incomprehensible at the moment, was enough to at least try, and there was no reason to overcomplicate matters.

“I don’t know,” he muttered finally, blushing. “But I’m willing to find out.”

That must have been the most mortifying experience of Rei’s entire life, and he couldn’t bring himself to meet Nagisa’s eyes. He lifted his head only after hearing an odd, strangled sound, and saw Nagisa hiding his face in his hands, his ears red. Rei swallowed in anticipation and Nagisa eventually dropped his hands, revealing a blush that Rei felt himself mirror instantly.

Finally, Nagisa held out his hand, smiling widely. “Let’s take a walk, Rei-chan.”


End file.
